


Heart

by Multiple_Universes



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mutual Pining, Singer Katsuki Yuuri, Singer Phichit Chulanont
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27755047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Multiple_Universes/pseuds/Multiple_Universes
Summary: By a stroke of luck, Chris gets a pair of tickets to see his favourite band in concert. Victor has never heard of the band before, but he comes along because that’s what good friends do, right? Victor was prepared to suffer through a concert of music that wasn’t his type at all. However, he wasn’t ready for the lead singer to steal his heart.
Relationships: Christophe Giacometti & Victor Nikiforov, Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri
Comments: 18
Kudos: 176
Collections: Yuri!!! on Ice Remix Challenge 2021





	Heart

Chris was the one who’d come up with the idea. That’s not to say that it was a special kind of idea that Victor would never have come up with on his own. And maybe calling it an “idea” was a stretch, but the point was: if Victor had been in Chris’ place, he wouldn’t have done this. To be fair: if Victor had been in Chris’ place, a big chunk of their lives would’ve been different and the world would’ve probably been slightly different too.

They were supposed to meet in Moscow for a week. Chris had been to St. Petersburg several times, but, as chance would have it, never to Moscow, so he’d convinced Victor that this time they ought to do something different when they got together.

Moscow. Victor had been there many times over the years. The city offered entertainment in every form imaginable from museums to night clubs. It was prepared to satisfy any taste, any passing whim.

Reasoning that between the two of them they would figure something out when they got there, Victor bought a ticket to Moscow without even bothering to make any plans for their stay.

As he took the train down from St. Petersburg he felt that special kind of anticipation that only came before one of his get-togethers with Chris. Sometimes Chris had crazy ideas and sometimes they were completely ordinary ones, but he always knew how to have fun. He had a nose for it. More than once he’d lead Victor through a network of small streets to a nightclub with great dancers, or a restaurant with a delicious menu.

Victor just finished checking into their hotel when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and frowned when he saw that it was Chris.

 _Something’s wrong. He’s calling to say he’s not coming._ Victor felt the bitter sting of disappointment as if Chris had already said the words.

“Hello, Chris,” he answered, doing his best to sound cheerful.

“Hey! Georgi just called…” Chris began.

 _Georgi? As in – Georgi Popovich? I didn’t realize you were friends!_ The thoughts raced through Victor’s head at breakneck speed. “Is he ok?” he managed.

“Yes. Well – no. He just broke up with Anya. Sounds like it wasn’t pretty. Anyway…”

As Chris took a breath Victor envied his friend for being so good at being friends with everyone he met. Victor was the kind of person who only kept a few close friends and wasn’t very good at making new ones either.

“Anyway,” Chris went on, “turns out he had tickets to the concert I’m dying to see! They sold out ten minutes after they went on sale! (I can’t possibly explain how disappointed I was when I found out.) He was supposed to go with Anya, but now he said there’s no point and –”

Victor felt like he was drowning in words. “Chris, hold on – what?”

“I got us tickets to go see P+H!” Chris exclaimed and paused as if he was waiting to be thanked.

“That’s um… great…” The words were out of Victor’s mouth before he realized that he should’ve responded with more enthusiasm.

“Oh _come on_ , don’t be like that! Don’t tell me you hate P+H! Is it actually possible to hate them?”

Victor sighed and braced himself for what would follow. “I’ve never heard of them,” he admitted.

“But they’re so popular! I heard that they’re _crazy_ popular in Russia! Their posters must be everywhere. Haven’t you seen them at least?”

What could Victor say to that? Was there any point in explaining for the hundredth time that he’d grown up listening to oldies and that even now he stuck to listening to songs that had been popular before he was born. But if he said anything, he was certain that Chris would only tease him about it.

“I guess they’re not as popular as I thought,” Chris said in a joking tone and Victor could imagine him wink as he said those words.

Victor mentally thanked his friend.

“Anyway, it’s lucky for you that I got these tickets. I’ll be able to correct the biggest mistake in the world and introduce you to the best music ever written!”

Victor laughed.

“I’m serious! When you hear them you will wonder where they were all this time.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” Victor said. It was hard to keep from laughing again.

“See you tomorrow.” It sounded like a demand for a promise.

“See you tomorrow,” Victor promised.

An idea occurred to him as soon as he ended the call: there was nothing stopping him from finding out now just what he’d signed himself up for.

He let himself into their hotel room, set his bags down and dropped onto the bed, his phone in his hands. He typed the band’s name into his phone, clicked the first YouTube video that popped up and hit play.

Loud rock music broke the silence and a voice soon joined it. But Victor couldn’t focus on the words: he was too busy thinking about how this wasn’t the type of music he thought Chris enjoyed. It certainly wasn’t the kind of music _he_ , Victor, enjoyed. With a sigh he set his phone aside.

How long could the concert be? Two hours? He could bear it for that long, surely!

He got up, realized that the song was still playing and picked his phone up to turn it off again.

It would be fine. It was just a concert.

At Chris’ insistence, they arrived at the concert hall two whole hours before the concert was scheduled to start. Victor didn’t comment on this while privately thinking that this was a little excessive. What would they do now that they got here so early?

Would he have insisted on coming this early if this had been his favourite band? He thought of his favourite band. Most of its members were dead. But if they were alive and if they were young… He knew then that he would’ve done exactly the same thing.

It was only when they entered the concert hall that Chris revealed the real reason they were here so early. “I hope you don’t mind standing for the whole concert,” he said.

Victor opened his mouth to say something and then he saw where Chris was leading him: the standing area right in front of the stage.

Wasn’t this where the really devoted fans crowded, fighting for a spot? What was Victor doing here, Victor who’d never even heard of the band before yesterday?

“Listen, Chris,” Victor spoke up, determined to get things over with as quickly as possible. “This isn’t fair. Let’s give my ticket to someone else, someone who will appreciate it much more than me. I can take a seat somewhere in the back.”

“No, you can’t!” Chris exclaimed. “We’re here together, remember? Besides, why give up such a good spot for a seat with a bad view?”

Victor couldn’t think of an answer to that.

Slowly the crowd began to trickle in. The conversations around them were full of anticipation. _What song do you think they’ll sing first? What’s your favourite song? Oh! Mine too! I hope they sing it!_ Some of them were in shirts with the band’s name on it.

 _What am I doing here?_ Victor asked himself. _This isn’t fair. I should be somewhere in the back with the casual fans, not here with the very devoted ones._

He glanced at Chris, but his friend was deep in a conversation with another fan, trying to decide which album was the best.

Victor had no choice but to resign himself to his fate.

The lights dimmed and the murmurs around him turned to excited screams. Victor felt his own heart hammer faster in his chest. He stared at the heavy red curtain expectantly as if he’d wanted to be here all his life.

A man walked out onto the stage. He stopped with his back to the audience and his head half turned to them as if he was posing for a photo.

The audience met him with deafening screams and applause. Several people held up their phones. Victor suddenly became conscious of just how crowded the place was, how there were people pushing in on all sides. He stepped to one side and gripped the railing of the fence before him. He was at the very front of a large crowd.

The man on the stage turned to face them. He was in a black suit with a black shirt underneath. A brooch sat on the bottom his neck, glittering under the stage lights. It caught Victor’s eye and he tried to make sense of its shape. Was it a spider?

And then the curtains rose. A large orchestra took up most of the stage, headed by a conductor – an elderly man with a big grin on his face.

Another man stepped forward with a guitar slung over his shoulder. He was dressed like the first man who’d appeared on the stage. Both of these men were very young. Next to the conductor, they looked like two teenagers.

The orchestra began to play. There was something haunting about the music, as if a danger slipped into the crowd and now circled everyone while remaining unseen.

The first man raised his microphone to his mouth and began to sing. His face, which just moments ago had a smile on it, twisted in agony.

“ _I’m a crashed pilot. They shot me down,_ ” the fans joined in as one.

Victor let his eyes drift to the people around him. They knew every word of this song and, he suspected, every other song that the band would perform tonight. They weren’t just singing along, they were losing themselves in the music as if the words were about their own lives.

He turned his attention back to the singer. He was handsome and had a great voice, but still Victor’s mind kept reminding him that he wasn’t supposed to be here. He wasn’t a fan. He didn’t have all these songs memorized. More than that – he was hearing them all for the first time.

The song ended and everyone broke out into loud enthusiastic cheers.

Victor caught Chris’ eye, but only for a brief moment: Chris was too busy enjoying himself to notice the turmoil in Victor’s mind.

The next song followed soon after. Victor felt his worried melt away as the wave of excitement rose all around him and swept him along.

After several songs, the singer left the stage. It was the guitar player’s turn to sing. He was joined by a guest singer in a duet that earned as much enthusiasm as all the previous songs had received.

It took Victor another two songs before he figured out who were the band members and what were their names. The orchestra had only joined them for this concert. The guitarist and the singer were the actual band, they were P+H (whatever those letters stood for).

“Yuuri, P+H,” the guitarist introduced the singer with a grin. Victor couldn’t help wondering why he bothered when the concert was already halfway over.

“Phichit, P+H,” the singer responded, raising his hand towards his partner.

Of course the audience – except Victor – didn’t need this introduction, but they applauded as if they couldn’t hear the joke in their voices.

Victor joined the applause. He was no good at remembering names, but maybe he’d be able to remember these. This concert was fun. Their music was beginning to grow on him. Victor liked songs that had unusual lyrics and really appreciated it when singers went beyond the usual “I love you” formula. This band had songs about other topics too.

“I can see why you like them,” Victor shouted to Chris over all the cheering.

Chris merely winked in response.

A new song began, its melody tense. Yuuri and Phichit stood with their foreheads pressed together. A cheer went up from the audience as they recognized the music. Again Victor noticed how they greeted each song like a friend they hadn’t seen in a long time.

Phichit stepped away and Yuuri dropped as if he’d lost his balance. He turned around and stepped down from the stage.

Before Victor could think about what this meant, before his mind could even consider the fact that the singer had come down to stand near the crowd, or the possibility that singer might come close to _him_ , there he was – right in front of Victor as if he had materialized there by magic.

Victor felt his mouth drop.

Someone screamed and, for a moment, Victor thought it was him.

Yuuri gripped the railing of the fence between them and leaned down until his face was right over Victor’s. He held a microphone between their mouths.

And then he sang. His voice poured out all around Victor, enveloping him in sound. Victor forgot that he was in a crowd. He forgot that he’d come to this concert by chance. He gazed up into the singer’s eyes with his mouth hanging open as his brain struggled to make sense of the song.

“ _…And where are they – the charms of love?_ ” Yuuri lamented as Victor’s brain started working again. “ _Why? Why do you break my heart?_ ”

Why was Victor breaking Yuuri’s heart?

“ _We’ll never be together,_ ” the singer added, his voice full of pain.

Never. Victor felt his own heart break.

Music poured all around them. Yuuri stepped away, took Victor’s hand and pressed his lips to the inside of it. Then he slipped away and was back on the stage as if he’d never left it.

Victor’s thoughts froze and he stared, unable to understand what was happening. Was this a dream? Was it actually possible that something like this had happened to him?

His hand burned where Yuuri had kissed it. Victor raised it to his own mouth and pressed his lips to the spot where Yuuri’s had been. This had to be a dream, he decided.

On the stage, Yuuri continued to sing as if nothing special had happened, as if he hadn’t just turned Victor’s life inside out.

“I’m so jealous right now,” Chris said into Victor’s ear.

The sound of his friend’s voice pulled him back into the real world, reminding him that there were other fans around him. The crowd was singing along, some shouting the words, some murmuring them quietly. Victor couldn’t help feeling as if they were all one big creature with a single mind.

Yuuri’s lament continued, “ _What use are poems? I’m dying and I don’t understand a thing._ ”

And Victor felt as if he, too, was dying and not understanding what was happening to him.

Yuuri danced, his movements following the music more than the words. It was mesmerising and Victor found himself unable to look away. The dance was like a spell and part of Victor’s brain was convinced that as soon as the dance stopped, so would the music.

Song after song followed. More guest singers came out on the stage. Phichit and Yuuri took turns vanishing from the stage while the other person sang a duet with one of their guests.

The concert was bursting with energy. The fans continued to greet every song with enthusiasm before proving to anyone who would care to listen that they knew all the words to every song. At times, the conductor would turn around and join in as if he was part of the large crowd of fans. The orchestra danced to the music without leaving their seats or interrupting their playing. Yuuri prowled the stage like a lion and Phichit smiled like someone who knew a well-hidden secret. In short, everyone was enjoying themselves.

And Victor? Victor drank every little detail in, doing his best to commit them all to memory. There was nothing better than this and he never wanted it to end.

But all good things come to an end and the concert was no exception to this rule.

The last song ended and everyone on the stage took their bows. One by one they called out each other’s names and came forward as the audience rewarded them with applause.

Victor clapped until his hands hurt, refusing to let the performers go. What was it they shouted at concerts? Again? No, that didn’t sound right. More?

He wanted more. Just one more song. Just a few more moments of this bliss. Just a little tiny bit more.

“Phichit!” Yuuri shouted, raising one arm towards his partner.

The audience screamed in appreciation.

“Yuuri!” Phichit called out.

The audience screamed again and this time Victor added his own voice to theirs. “Yuuri!” he shouted as loudly as he could. He knew the singer wouldn’t notice him, but still he screamed.

Yuuri bowed and then straightened up. His calm gaze swept over the audience as he continued to smile. “Thank you so much for your support,” he said and got a deafening scream in response.

The curtain fell and just like that it was over. It was all over!

Victor blinked. At some point he’d forgotten that he was in a concert hall filled with people. He’d forgotten that there were fans all around him and now that the dream was over he was waking up to reality. Was it his imagination, or were there more people here than before?

Victor was left with a huge empty feeling. The concert had lasted a lifetime. What was he supposed to do now it was over?

By accident, his gaze fell on Chris, reminding him that he wasn’t alone in the giant crowd.

His confusion must’ve shown itself on his face because Chris clapped him on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”

Victor followed his friend out without uttering a word. He listened to Chris talk excitedly about the concert and nodded along.

He wished he could return to the dream, but as time went by he felt the real world reasserting itself around him stronger. As he walked behind Chris he became dimly aware that he was in Moscow, that they had to get back to their hotel room, that tomorrow would come and…

He threw a look full of longing at the stage. He’d just witnessed a miracle and who knew if he would ever see anything like it again?

As they stepped out into the warm night Chris gave Victor a knowing look. “I had the same reaction after the first time I went to their concert,” he admitted.

Victor blinked at his friend. He remembered how much he’d resisted coming. Any minute now Chris would start teasing him for it. He would never be allowed to live this down, he just knew it.

Christ clapped him on the back. “It’s getting late,” was all he said.

The next day Victor had every single song by P+H downloaded onto his phone.

He went on their Wikipedia page and studied their biography as if he expected to be tested on it. Then he visited the group’s website and went through their concert schedule. The group was at the beginning of a world tour, which had started a week ago. Victor didn’t even stop to think before clicking to the page with concert tickets. Every show was sold out.

He stared in dejection at the screen for several minutes until an idea occurred to him and he went to get his phone to call in a favour.

Two months later Victor was at another P+H concert, sitting at the very back row and feeling like someone on top of the world. He wasn’t at the very front, true, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d made it to the concert.

Still, no matter how many times he told himself that he was lucky to be here, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy when Yuuri walked out to the fans gathered at the very front and leaned over them to sing.

 _It’s just how he sings,_ Victor tried to convince himself, as a different voice in his head insisted that it should be _him_ up there. It should be him holding on to the singer. Now he knew all the words to all the songs. Now he _deserved_ to be the one who got to touch Yuuri. Life just wasn’t fair.

Those thoughts poisoned the rest of the concert for him, making it impossible to think of anything else even when the lights dimmed and Yuuri started to sing _Silver_ , one of Victor’s favourite songs.

“ _Oh not to lose in silver, my only one, my cherished one,_ ” Yuuri sang.

And Victor felt as if his cherished one was slipping away from his grasp.

When the concert ended he returned to his hotel room, very conscious of the fact that he was walking all by himself. His head was full of sad thoughts and as he reached his room and opened the door he couldn’t help feeling as if the room was emptier than it had been when he’d checked in.

He flopped down on the bed with a heavy sigh. Everything was horrible. It was awful. It was unbearable. It was –

He turned over onto his stomach and opened the concert schedule. The next city on the tour’s list was also a city he’d been planning to visit. He’d just have to try again. Maybe this time he’d get lucky and get a ticket closer to the front. He didn’t dare hope to get one right at the stage.

Three concerts later he met up with Chris again. He smiled and did his best to act as if his life was the same as always, as if he wasn’t obsessing over a band every hour of every day.

He let Chis talk about anything he wanted, only inserting the occasional “yes” or “hmm” to show that he was listening.

And then his phone rang. Victor froze as his phone played the oh-so-recognizable opening bars of “Heart”. He tried to look casual about it. It was just a ringtone, just a tune and nothing more.

A smile spread over Chris’ face.

Victor continued to stare at his friend as if hypnotized.

“Is that your phone? Aren’t you going to answer it?”

Victor pulled the phone out of his pocket, not trusting himself to say anything. He stared at the number that lit up on the screen, but it wasn’t one he recognized.

“Hello?”

Maybe it was the expression on Chris’ face, or perhaps he was losing his mind at last, but, for some reason, he became convinced that his caller was Yuuri himself.

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice replied. “Jackie?”

“Sorry, I think you have the wrong number,” Victor replied and hung up, swallowing his disappointment.

Chris put an arm around Victor’s shoulders and Victor wondered how obvious he’d been. How well did Chris know him? Could he guess Victor’s thoughts just by the expression on his face?

“Let’s go,” Chris said.

Victor just nodded.

 _Maybe I should just tell him,_ Victor thought. _I bet he knows how to help me. Chris always knows what to do._ But he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t open his mouth and confess what had been troubling him. Chris would laugh at him and then they’d fight and Victor would lose his closest friend.

He had to focus on getting a ticket for the next concert.

Another three concerts later he got together with Chris again.

“You know,” Chris said, “you look like someone who is in serious need to have fun.”

Victor bristled at this. “I have fun!” he protested.

“Yeah, listening to Tchaikovsky while reading _War and Peace_ ,” Chris countered with a laugh.

“I only did that _once_ ,” Victor countered. “And it was for an ad, anyway!”

“I hope they paid well.” Chris stopped laughing and his expression became serious. “What was I saying? Oh yes – you need to have some fun.”

He wasn’t going to argue this time. “What do you have in time?”

“I was thinking: karaoke night,” Chris admitted.

This was it. Chris could obviously see what was going on in Victor’s mind and this was his way of getting Victor to admit it. But what could he do? He couldn’t say no!

“What a great idea!” Victor lied. He wondered then if he was any good at singing. He’d never sung karaoke before. Well, now he would find out.

“I know a good place,” Chris told him. He always knew a good place. Even in a city he was visiting for the first time he was bound to know a good place. “Oh and I hope you don’t mind if I invite a few friends to come join us.”

Victor’s heart fell. “Great,” he said in a voice that didn’t sound convincing at all. “The more the merrier.”

Now he knew what this was. Chris was going to try to set him up on another date with one of his friends.

Chris had done this a million times to him before. He would say that he’d invited a friend, or friends and Victor would find himself sitting next to a very hot and somewhat intimidating young man who would spend the whole evening very obviously trying to get into Victor’s pants.

But Victor was as old-fashioned as they come. He wasn’t the least bit interested in a one night stand.

 _He must know how much I’m suffering right now!_ Victor thought desperately. _Does he really think that distracting me with a hot man will help?_

But he went along with it anyway, partially because he didn’t dare argue and partially because some part of him hoped that Chris’ idea would work.

Yuuri Katsuki had a problem. The worst part of the problem was that he couldn’t tell anyone about it.

Yuuri from P+H didn’t have this problem. When he appeared in concerts, or showed up for interviews everything was fine. No sign of any problem at all: he’d had lots of practice at hiding it.

But when Yuuri Katsuki went out into the world, when he dropped by the café around the corner, went out with others for a meal, then it showed its head and there was no hiding it.

Yuuri Katsuki was shy. The word didn’t do his troubles justice. It didn’t mean that he spoke in a soft voice and kept his eyes lowered. It meant that if anyone tried to flirt with him, he didn’t know what to do or what to say. It meant that if, for example, a handsome stranger happened to stand next to him in a lineup, Yuuri lost his voice and could barely find it in time for when the lineup got to him. It meant that while Yuuri wanted to go on a date with someone, he just couldn’t.

Yuuri from P+H could go on dates, but he existed only on stage, or in interviews. In real life he was nothing more than a fairy tale. Yuuri from P+H had lots of fans and sometimes Yuuri Katsuki hated him.

Of course Yuuri Katsuki and Yuuri from P+H were the same person, but that didn’t help solve the problem. And what made the problem even worse was that Yuuri was already in love. He tried to tell himself that it was nothing more than a silly infatuation, but that didn’t make it easier to control his feelings.

It was so obvious too, that Yuuri was convinced that the whole world could see it. All they had to do was look at the schedules for their world tours and ask why they’d chosen such a strange order for visiting countries around the world. Then they just needed to do a little bit of Googling and they’d soon see the reason why. And, based on how many fan theories there were out there to explain the name of their band, Yuuri suspected that someone had already worked it out.

Stupid. He was so stupid!

He remembered all too well the moment he’d fallen in love. It was in Paris where he’d first set eyes on the one who had won his heart, where he’d fallen under someone’s spell. Paris. Of course it had to be Paris.

Yuuri sighed heavily as he stared out the window. Beside him Phichit was telling Seung Gil, their keyboardist, another one of his funny stories.

They were on a train bound for Frankfurt where there would be another concert and where Yuuri from P+H could sing again about love as if he had a lover.

He rested his forehead against the window and tried to focus all his thoughts on the concert. This time their set up would be different: they would be performing on a small stage with fans around them on all sides. They’d spent quite some time perfecting this set up and then more time looking for a venue that would give them what they wanted.

“Yuuri?” Phichit called, startling him out of his thoughts.

“What?” Yuuri turned his head to meet his friend’s eye.

“We’re nearly there.” Phichit and Seung Gil exchanged a glance. “You looked like you were miles away,” Phichit added with a grin. “Already performing for our adoring fans?”

Blood rose to Yuuri’s cheeks. “I… I was just thinking about the upcoming concert,” he said defensively. Why did he always feel as if he’d been caught in a crime? Why?

Phichit glanced at his watch. “The night is still young. I don’t want to spend the whole evening cooped up in my hotel room.” Yuuri’s heart fell. “Let’s go out and have some fun!”

 _Oh god, no,_ Yuuri thought. “You can go, if you want,” he said. “I’m still tired after yesterday,” he lied. “I’m going to rest so I can be in good shape for tomorrow.”

“Oh come on, Yuuri!” Phichit protested. “The concert isn’t until the _evening_! You can sleep in until noon, if you want!”

Yuuri wasn’t going to let Phichit change his mind. He wasn’t going to be pulled into another wild night, he _wasn’t_.

“Come on,” Phichit went on insisting. “How are we supposed to have fun when we know you’re sitting in a hotel room all by yourself?”

Yuuri tried to argue, but he could feel himself losing. He always lost. When it came to things like this Phichit always got his way. When it came to things like concert schedules or stage setups, Phichit always went along with all of Yuuri’s suggestions. Perhaps this was what he expected to get in return.

After several minutes of arguing, Yuuri gave in just like he’d suspected he would. It was inevitable. It was always inevitable.

The train pulled into the station and they got out. What followed was a routine that Yuuri had done hundreds of times: check into the hotel, go grab dinner and pray that Phichit wouldn’t drag him somewhere that was really horrible. Usually it was a nightclub where they’d dance to loud booming music and Yuuri would do his best to not feel lonely in the tight crowd of bodies around him.

This time Phichit spent their whole dinner on his phone, alternating between texting someone and looking up places on his phone. He didn’t tell Yuuri what he was looking for, or who he was texting and Yuuri didn’t bother asking. Phichit had tons of friends and always had someone to text.

Yuuri watched the waiter take his empty plate away and wondered if it was too late to back out now. He wished he could sleep until the concert. He wanted to go back to his hotel room and lock the world out until he could become Yuuri from P+H and face it all again as him.

Phichit pocketed his phone with a devilish grin.

_I can leave now. I can pretend that I have a bad stomach ache and just go. I can make up something, a headache, anything._

Phichit called the waiter over and asked for separate bills.

 _I’ll just pay and leave,_ Yuuri told himself. _I don’t have to go with him. I can just say that I changed my mind._

They paid for their meal and rose from their seats. As they walked, Yuuri continued to tell himself that he could turn back at any time. But, for some reason, he followed Phichit without uttering a word, frightened of what their end destination would turn out to be.

“Are we going far?” Seung Gil asked. “Because if you’re planning to cross the whole city, I’m going to call a taxi.”

“Don’t be like that!” Phichit protested. “A walk will do you some good!”

Seung Gil muttered something under his breath.

“Anyway,” Phichit hastened to add before Seung Gil could say anything else. “It’s around the corner.”

What they found around the corner, much to Yuuri’s frustration was a small place with a large neon sign that identified it as a karaoke bar.

“Singing,” Seung Gil said sarcastically. “That thing we’ve never done in our lives. Ever.”

“I’ve never sung karaoke,” Phichit declared. “I’ve always wanted to try it.”

Seung Gil gave him a look. “You mean you’ve always wanted to sing off-key on purpose?”

Yuuri wondered if there was any chance that they wouldn’t be recognized when they came in. Maybe everyone at the bar would be too drunk to spot the members of a popular band coming in and no one would get a video of them singing. Maybe this little adventure _wouldn’t_ make it to the Internet and go viral. Maybe a little miracle would save Yuuri from weeks of embarrassment afterwards and thousands of interviews making references to it.

He followed Phichit inside, resigning himself to the hell that was bound to follow.

As soon as he entered, Phichit made straight for the bar as if he was a regular and that was the part of the bar that he frequented the most. He ordered a drink for each of them.

Yuuri followed Phichit, but didn’t take his drink. Instead he leaned against the bar and tried to will himself to leave.

Phichit turned around and reclined against the bar with a drink in his hand. “Wow! That singer is _hot_!” he exclaimed and raised his glass in a toast before downing its contents in one gulp.

Yuuri didn’t turn his head. “I think I need to go back to my room,” he finally managed in a low voice.

Whoever had been singing up until that point finished and the bar filled with polite applause.

“I need another drink,” Phichit declared, turning to the barman.

“Take mine,” Yuuri pushed his glass to him. “I’m leaving.”

“Aww! Yuuri! Just one song, please?”

Yuuri saw the twinkle in his friend’s eyes and rebelled. “No,” he said. “I don’t want to go through a hundred interviews were people ask me about tonight. I don’t want to see my name all over the papers with jokes about giving free concerts. You know how much I hate bad press. You know –”

The bar filled with loud screams.

Phichit turned to see who was on the stage now and gave a low whistle. “This one is even hotter,” he observed as if Yuuri hadn’t said anything.

Yuuri felt his patience run out. “I’m going,” he declared in a cold tone that left no room for argument. He shouldn’t have come here. He didn’t want to fight with Phichit, especially with a concert scheduled for the next day, but he had to get out of here while he still could.

And then the opening bars of “Heart” washed over him. He felt his own heart give a painful wrench. This was the last thing he needed right now. He really didn’t need this reminder.

“Do you think I could get his autograph?” Phichit asked.

But then a voice joined the music and all thoughts of Yuri’s troubles were temporarily cast aside. This singer was getting every single note wrong.

Yuuri caught Phichit’s eye and watched him wince.

“You should go up there and teach him how to sing,” Phichit suggested with a wink and turned to order another drink.

What was Yuuri supposed to say to that? Surely he wasn’t expected to reply!

Phichit downed his third drink. “Okay, I’m ready,” he declared, caught Yuuri by the arm and dragged him in the direction of the stage.

Yuuri stumbled after him, apologizing to everyone they bumped into and doing his best to keep his head lowered and his face hidden. The thought that they could be recognized didn’t seem to bother Phichit in the slightest.

Phichit reached the edge of the crowd and stopped. Yuuri’s eyes fell on the stage right in front of him. He stared at the singer’s feet, not daring to raise his head for fear of being recognized.

“ _You’re breaking my heart,_ ” the singer told the world, abusing every note. “ _We’ll never be together._ ”

Phichit screamed in enthusiasm, raising his arms.

Everyone else picked up the scream.

Yuuri had to get out of here. He had to –

He raised his head. He’d meant to turn and look for a way out, but instead his eyes fell on the singer on the stage.

Sometimes life really liked to play games with his heart. Sometimes life would dangle something before his eyes, taunting him with what he couldn’t have.

 _I know what you want,_ life seemed to say. _Well, guess what? You can’t have it._

It had done it three years ago at the Olympic Games. Back then it had shown him the miracle named Victor Nikiforov, the living legend of figure skating. Yuuri had gotten tickets to the figure skating competition as a present and he’d gone, not knowing what awaited him there. He hadn’t been prepared to watch the ethereal figure go out on the ice and blow his mind.

And then, just when he thought he’d gotten over Victor, life threw him that concert when he went out to the fans and came face to face with someone who looked just like Victor. Of course, no one looked like Victor Nikiforov, but Yuuri knew that there was just _no way_ that Victor would come to his concert. Victor wasn’t one of his fans. Yuuri knew that from all the interviews he’d watched and read. It had to be someone who looked like him and Yuuri’s imagination must’ve made him look just like Victor.

And now this – now he stood in a bar where a person who looked like Victor sang _his_ song. As if coincidences like that could happen in real life!

The man’s eyes met Yuuri’s and his voice faltered. The music went on playing, but the man merely stood there, his face turning a bright red colour.

Phichit nudged Yuuri forward, “Go on. Go help him.”

Yuuri was suddenly very aware that the singer’s knees were right in front of his face. He stared at them in confusion and prayed to the universe that the floor will open up and swallow him.

“ _You’re breaking my heart_ ,” the singer mumbled, his voice trembling. “ _We’ll never be together_.”

 _We won’t,_ Yuuri thought miserably and hated the world for being so unfair. He raised his head again.

The singer’s voice faltered once more.

The music cut off.

“Hey!” Phichit protested. “He wasn’t done singing!”

“Oh my god!” someone behind Yuuri screamed. “It’s P+H!”

The bar filled with excited screams and pleas for a song.

 _It’s over,_ Yuuri thought and cursed himself for coming here.

Phichit stepped up to the stage. “Come on, everyone! Be fair! Let him finish his song!”

Yuuri watched the man who looked like Victor shuffle awkwardly on the stage like someone who couldn’t decide whether or not to make a run for it. Yuuri reached out and caught his hand.

“Please,” the next words got caught in his throat as their eyes met again and Yuuri’s vision filled with the most beautiful blue. “Please…” he forced himself to say. “I want to hear you sing.”

“I’m not any good,” the man admitted.

Yuuri didn’t know what to say to that. He searched around for something, but his mind could only suggest a question. He had to know. If he didn’t ask now, he’d never forgive himself. It just wasn’t possible for two people to look so much like each other. “What’s your name?”

“Victor,” the man replied with a smile too beautiful for words.

It _was_ him. Yuuri felt the tension drain out of his shoulders. He had no idea how this could be possible, but there it was. Sometimes life just liked to play jokes on unsuspecting people.

“Alright, everyone!” someone’s voice cut in. “Let’s give Victor another chance!”

The crowd grudgingly agreed and the music started to play.

Victor reached down and let his hand rest against Yuuri’s cheek. He leaned down with the microphone held to his lips.

“ _Of all the reasons, there is only one to explain why you left with another man…_ ”

Phichit worked his way through the crowd to where Chris stood leaning against the wall, watching the stage with a little smile on his face. He had the look of a proud parent watching his children.

“There you are!” Phichit exclaimed. “Not going to join the fun?”

Chris chuckled. “I spent too much effort bringing them together to get in their way now.”

On the stage Yuuri and Victor were performing a passable version of “Silver”.

“Fair enough,” Phichit agreed. “Can I buy you a drink? I don’t know what I would’ve done, if you hadn’t arranged all this!”

Chris laughed. “I’m sure you would’ve thought of something.”

Victor raised Yuuri’s hand to his lips and planted a kiss on it.

Phichit nodded in approval. It was a good thing he’d let Yuuri plan their world tour, he thought. It meant that they wouldn’t have to move any of their concerts around to accommodate Victor’s schedule. After all, Yuuri had based the whole tour around Victor’s competitions.

Yes, everything had worked out perfectly. If he was going to be picky, there was only one thing he would complain about. “I wish we’d done this three years ago."

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry about my super long absence. Every day for the last few months I kept telling myself “tomorrow I’ll definitely post something” and it just didn’t happen. Then the [Ice Adolescence trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mk4Uykq5I8) came out I realized that I absolutely have to get my act together and post a fic.
> 
> I’m supposed to finish Love Alarm, but at some point I stumbled into a recording of a [concert by Bi-2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y76e3Lu4iFU) and I couldn’t stop thinking about what a fun AU it could make, especially when the group sings the song “Heart”.
> 
> Now that I got this fic out of my system, I can go back to writing Love Alarm. I’m going to make it my goal to post once a week from now on. I still have a super long list of ideas for fics and I want to write them all, so hopefully this will help!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, leaving kudos and comments! Stay healthy and stay safe everyone!


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